This week, Cancer Council Victoria launched a new campaign raising awareness about the link between sugary drinks and obesity, as well as certain cancers.

A shocking advert showing toxic fat inside a patient’s body was featured as part of the campaign video.

Amy Johns, Northern Health Clinical Dietician, says there are a large number of overweight and obese clients seen at Craigieburn Health Service every day.

“I complete one-to-one individualised nutrition counselling sessions and find that sugar-sweetened beverages make up a large part of people’s diets nowadays,” she says.

“These sugars are hidden in drinks and are high in kilojoules (i.e. calories) which lead to weight gain and obesity.”

If you consume one can of soft drink every day for a year, it is estimated you will gain approximately 6.75 kilograms.

The rise in sugary drink consumption, especially amongst children, has led staff at Craigieburn Health Service to take action, creating their own ‘Rethink your drink’ display.

The visual display shows different soft drinks and the amount of sugar they contain in clear bags.

“A 600mL bottle of regular Coca Cola, for example, contains 16 teaspoons of sugar. You wouldn’t eat 16 teaspoons of sugar, so why would you drink it?” Amy says.

The eye-opening display is receiving great feedback from staff and parents.

“If you don’t see the sugar visually like that, you just don’t know it’s there!”